Stefanie Schneider’s artwork ‘Gas station at Night I’ from 1999 is a digital C-Print based on a Polaroid, measuring 37x36cm and belonging to an edition of 3/30. The artwork is not mounted and comes with a certificate and signature label, as well as an artist Inventory Nr. 391.23. This particular piece is part of the monograph STRANGER THAN PARADISE published by Hatje Cantz Verlag in 2006.
The artwork captures a vivid and seemingly surreal transformation, portraying a cheerless settlement beneath a shining, blue sky. The subjects in the artwork, including the character Radha and Max, are depicted in spaces that are not cozy or comfortable, playing in the harsh California sunlight. There is a mix of beauty and vexation, eroticism and loneliness, creating a rift between desire and truth. The photographs evoke the illusion of a narrative element but ultimately do not follow a linear plot, leaving room for interpretation and imagination.
Stefanie Schneider’s work takes place in the American West, and her photographic sequences provide the backdrop for loosely woven storylines and phantasmic characters. The use of expired Polaroid film stock results in chemical explosions of color spreading across the surfaces, undermining the photograph’s commitment to reality and inducing her characters into trance-like dreamscapes. Her images refuse to succumb to reality, keeping alive the confusions of dream, desire, fact, and fiction.
The artist’s work has been shown at various prestigious institutions, including the Museum for Photography in Braunschweig, the Museum für Kommunikation in Berlin, and Les Rencontres d’Arles. Schneider’s use of instant photography, combined with a sometimes seemingly pictorial visual language, creates a captivating and thought-provoking body of work.
In conclusion, Stefanie Schneider’s ‘Gas station at Night I’ is a mesmerizing artwork that blurs the lines between reality, fiction, and dream. The vivid and captivating portrayal of characters in the harsh California sunlight creates an intriguing and immersive sensory experience for the viewer.
Summary Lists:
1. Artwork details: ‘Gas station at Night I’, 1999, 37x36cm, digital C-Print, Edition of 3/30, not mounted, with certificate and signature label, artist Inventory Nr. 391.23.
2. Artistic style: Schneider’s work combines elements of Pop Art, Fine Art, Conceptual Art, Expressionism, and Surrealism.
3. Exhibition history: Schneider’s work has been shown at various prestigious institutions globally, showcasing her captivating and thought-provoking body of work.
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